ISLAMABAD (PTI): Benazir Bhutto was sworn in Prime Minister of Pakistan on Oct.19 after she defeated archrival and predecessor, Nawaz Sharif, of the Paki Stan Muslim league, in the crucial trial of strength in the national assembly.

At a simple ceremony in a chandeliered hall at the AiwanE Sadr (President’s house), the acting president Wasim Sajjad ad ministered the oath of office and secrecy to the 40yearold Ms. Bhutto.

Flash bulbs popped and television cameras rolled as Ms. Bhutto, wearing a peacock blue dress with a white scarf on head, read out the oath after recitation of verses from the Holy Quran.

She is the only woman Prime Minister in the Muslim world to return to power for the second lime after 4 gap of three years.

A two member cabinet comprising the former federal minister Farooq Leghari and the ex-chief minister of Singh Aftab Shahban Mirani were also sworn in as central ministers.

Leghari had been assigned the foreign affairs portfolio while Mirani would be the defense minister.

Also present at this historic occasion was Sharif, who polled 72 oles as against Ms.Bhutto’s 121, m Parliament’s lower house which at the historic occasion was Shanif, who polled 72 votes as against Ms. Bhutto’s 121, in Parliament’s lower house with an effective Strength of 205.

The return of Benazir Bhutto

Co-chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Bhuuo defeated Pakistan Muslim League (N) Chief Nawaz Sharif by 49 votes in the election for the Prime Minister’s office held in the national assembly.

Bhutto secured 121 votes while her rival bagged 72 votes.

Bhutto was expected to bag the chief executive’s job after the Pakistan democratic front, comprising PPP and it sally, PML (Junejo), secured the posts of the speaker and deputy speaker of the national assembly on Sunday, defeating the nominees of the PML{N) and its allies. Sharif took a last minute decision to contest his arch political rival as he felt that PDF’s chances of forming a government in crucial Punjab would improve incase Bhutto was elected the Prime Minister.

A beaming Bhutto was congratulated by members of both sides of the political divide in the assembly. She described her accession to power as a historic change and not merely a change in face. She said she would try to end Pakistan’s isolation in the world. She also talked of the need to work against terrorism without specifying it. There was no reference to Kashmir in her brief address. She is likely to do so in her speech ad dressed to the country tomorrow, Bhutto also promised to work for ending maladministration, corruption and chaos. She said she would give a pride of place to the opposition.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated Ms, Bhutto on her success and assured her of his party’s wholehearted cooperation to the government. The Bangladesh and Indian prime ministers also sent congratulatory messages to the new prime minister. The trend of voting in the elections to the offices of Speaker and Deputy Speaker in the Punjab and Sind assemblies indicated that the supporters of Prime Minister Bhutto will capture power in the two provinces also. The elections to the high offices are due Wednesday.

Talking to newsmen, 40ycar old oxford educated Bhutto, who became the first prime minister of the Muslim world in 1988, was confident that the PDF would be able to muster majority in the 248 member Punjab assembly and form a government.

Daughter of the east, 39year old Bhutto enjoys the support of the west and for the first time the acceptability of the powerful Pakistan army.

But little initiative is expected from her vis-à-vis India as she enjoys a razor-thin majority in the national assembly. This poses a big question mark on her ability to survive in the troubled political waters in months to come,

The Hazratbal mosque crisis in Srinagar; the winter capital of India’s strife torn Jammu and Kashmir state, which erupted the eve of her return to power is likely to make Bhulto’s pronouncements on Kashmir even more strident she may not find any elbow room in mending fences with India.

Her archrival Nawaz Sharif, though a product of late President Zia Ul Haq’s martial law regime in 1980s, now enjoys a political constituency of his own. He is expected to pose a strong challenge to Bhutto’s minority government.

After spending two years in exile in London, Bhutto made a triumphant return to Pakistan on April 10,1986. The reception accorded to the on the streets of Lahore surpassed even what her late father had experienced in his heydays.

She travelled the length and breadth of the country, building up pressure on Gen. Zia to hold elections.

Bhutto married Zardari, a Sindhi businessman cum landlord, submitting to her mother’s choice,

Gen. Zia’s dismissal of the then Junejo government galvanized her campaign for restoration of democracy in Pakistan,

The general’s death in a plane crash in 1988 paved the way for her to become the first woman prime minister of an Islamic country.

She inherited Zia’s legacy with Ghulam Ishaq Khan continuing as the president and Sahabzada Yaqub Khan as the foreign minister,

A confrontation was unavoidable. Ghulam Ishaq Khan sacked her on charges of corruption and incompetence in 1990. Ironically, she sided with Ghulam Ishaq Khan in his showdown with Nawaz Sharif in April this year,

The army intervened, though behind the scenes, and ensured the exit of both Khan and Sharif, This lead to announcement of fresh elections on Oct.6.

Article extracted from this publication >>  October 22, 1993